RING out the bells on Christmas Day

This holiday season was definitely a different, but exciting one. I was unable to go home for Christmas due to my work schedule at walmart, but I still managed to spread a little Christmas cheer. I had to work the morning of the 24th, but after my shift was over, I hopped in my car and headed north. After driving for a few hours in some pretty intense fog, I made it to the Salt Lake valley. I spent Christmas eve with Kathy. We went to dinner at Applebees, which was having a Hawaiian night. Then we went to a movie, which was surprisingly packed for a Christmas Eve. I spent the night at Kathys (Thanks again Kath) and then made my way over to the Allred home in South Jordan. There I set up a surprise scavenger hunt for Ruth with the help of her mom. Here is a picture of most of the items from the hunt.

At the final stage of the hunt, Ruth had to follow a trail of roses to the Christmas tree in her living room.

When she arrived, a very surprised Ruth found me waiting next to the tree to give her another gift.

Thats right everyone, Ruth and I are now engaged!!! Before we get too many questions about it, we know it will be in May, but we aren't sure about the exact date yet. We will let you know soon though! Here are a couple more pictures of the ring. Enjoy!


Also, here is us spreading the news!

California Getaway

Last weekend I had the opportunity of going to California with the Allred's. After tackling two tests on Friday morning, Ruth and I got in the car and headed for the airport in Las Vegas. We made pretty good time in getting to Vegas, so we had a while to wait in the airport. We were flying standby on JetBlue, so we were a little worried about making it on to the plane. Unfortunately we didn't get to sit by each other, but we both made it on the plane to Long Beach. Shortly after landing we met up with Ruth's family and enjoyed the evening with them. We got up bright and early the next morning and headed for Disneyland! Our hotel provided a shuttle to the park, so we got there just after the park opened, and it was a blast. The crowds were pretty small all morning, so we could just walk straight up to any ride and get on. It was so nice, especially considering the last time I went to Disney, we had to wait in really long lines all day. The only bump in the morning plans was that Ruth's parents weren't able to be in the park with us because they wound up going to a funeral for an uncle of Ruth's mom. They weren't planning on going, but since they were in the area when it happened, they figured they had better go. They did meet up with us in the afternoon for lunch, and then we revisited all the rides we went on in the morning and hit up a few we missed. We stayed in the park until 10:30 that night. We all had a lot of fun, but by the end of the day we were ready for some quality time with a pillow. We got up on Sunday morning with intentions of attending church, but after running into a laundry list of problems, we were too late to get there. So after getting checked out of the hotel we spent a couple of hours at the beach. Ruth's dad had to take off for a while to take Betsy and Chris to the airport, but he made it back in time to enjoy a nap on the beach. We went for a really nice mexican dinner before heading to the airport. This time the worry came for the crew heading back to Salt Lake. Their plane was really full so it was very up in the air for a while if they would make it home or not. Luckily, everyone made it on to the plane and left Ruth and I to wait for our flight back to Vegas. Our airplane had almost nobody on it, so we actually got to sit by each other on the way back. We didn't get back into Cedar City until about 2:00 in the morning. It was a short and busy trip, but it was definitely worth it. I had a blast being with Ruth away from the pressures of work and school. It was also fun getting to know Ruth's family a little better. As always, her are a few pictures. Enjoy!

Ruth at the "phone bank" at the airport.

The Allred girls at the entrance of Disneyland.

Ruth and I entering the magic kingdom.

Betsy and Chris psyched for a day with Mickey.

Taking a spin on the tea cups.

Could this be where I am from?

Ruth getting ready for Autopia.

Ruth behind the wheel.

I think Ruth may have had a little road rage?

Rachel and Hannah approach the finish line.

Chris and Betsy stuck in traffic. Crazy California drivers!

Making a big splash!

Space mountain survivors.

You never know what kind of beach bums you will find in Cali.

Watching the tide roll in.

A game or a bird trap?

It isn't a trip to the beach without making a sand castle.

So sad to head back to the real world.

Our near empty plane on the way back.

At least we got to sit by each other this time!

Targeted at Work

To the excited surprise of many walmart employees, we were given the green light to dress up for Halloween on Saturday and Sunday of this week. Not wanting to pass up on the opportunity to be my sarcastic self, I decided to dress up as a target employee. I don't think the majority of the customers I helped today even noticed, but it got a lot of good laughs out of my co-workers. I was a little worried that management might not be too excited about my idea, but I couldn't pass up the idea. So I altered my walmart badge to look like a target badge, and to make it an even bigger shot to the ribs I still left the walmart slogan on the bottom of the badge. Then I just added in a red polo to complete the look, and it made for a fun day at work. Here are a couple of pictures to show what it looked like. I thought the badge looked ok, but several people asked if it was real, so I must have done a pretty good job.

Weekend Visit

This last weekend, Ruth got to come back to Cedar City for the first time since moving home. I was super excited to be able to be with her again. Sadly, I had to work quite a bit while she was here, but we did get to spend some time together, and we did get to go on a couple adventures. Thursday night we went out to Three Peaks to roast marshmallows with some old friends. It was fun getting the crew back together to hang out for a bit. Then on Friday afternoon Ruth and I took a drive up the canyon to go to Cedar Breaks. We had been up there once before with some friends, but it was night and we couldn't really see anything. I was really glad we went back up there, because it had some really nice scenery. The view was really nice, and we even saw a little wildlife. We watched a little chipmunk for about five minutes that was just below the lookout point. Then as we were driving back down the canyon we decided to take a side road to see where it went. Just as we turned off the main road, there was just a single lamb laying on the side of the road. We knew that there were a lot of sheep raised in the area, but it was really surprising to see one all by itself that high up in the canyon. The side road adventure didn't last too long because the road dead ended at some type of utilities plant. It was a lot of fun just to get out and go enjoy some more of the area around Cedar City, and it was all made better because Ruth was with me! Well, here are a few pictures from Cedar Breaks. Enjoy!

The Long Overdue Trip

After experiencing a super long period of separation from the beloved city of Blanding I was finally able to go home this last Thursday. On Thursday morning Ruth and I set out for home. It was a long drive, as always, but it was worth it to be with my family again. That night, we drove over to Monticello for the Charley Jenkins and Aaron Tippin concert. I was really excited to see Charley again because I enjoyed the last time I saw him so much. Aaron Tippin did a good job too, and he had a ton of energy. On Friday morning we went golfing with my dad and two of his co-workers. I hadn't played a round of golf in a year, but it was still fun to go. I am pretty sure Ruth would have kicked my butt had we been really keeping score. I was surprised that we both got burned pretty bad. I thought we wouldn't have got that red after all the hiking and stuff we have done this summer. Anyway, later on in the evening we got to hang out with Kyle and Dany. It was a blast to be with them again. We made an awesome pizza and some spam musibi. On Saturday afternoon we went and shot skeets with my dad and Farley. We didn't put on much of a show, but we had a lot of fun. It was Ruths first time shooting a gun, and she did pretty well. She took care of a can of pepsi on her second shot. That evening we went to the cabin for dinner. We played frisbee before dinner and bocce after dinner. It was lots of good food, including some amazing pecan pie, and lots of fun. On Sunday we stayed around long enough to go to church and have dinner with the family. Then on the way back to Cedar City we met up with Ruths dad so he could take her back home. It was really hard to let her go like that, but hopefully we will see each other again soon. Here are a couple pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!

Wild Flowers To Wild Broncs

This last weekend Ruth and I went to visit her family in South Jordon for a few days. We headed out as soon as I got off work on Friday night, and stayed there until Monday afternoon. On Saturday morning we (Me, Ruth, Mom & Dad Allred, Betsy & Chris, Hannah, and Rachel) went for a hike in the Snowbird area. We hiked a couple of miles up to a place called Cecret Lake. It was fun getting to hike around in the mountains like that. There were a ton of wildflowers everywhere, which added a lot to the scenery. While it was a fun hike, we were all pretty drained, I think that was due more to all the sun we got, than the difficulty of the hike. After the hike we all ate lunch and then Ruth, Her Mom, and I did another small walk down closer to the Snowbird resort. After that we drove to La Caille to walk the grounds. It had been a while since I had been there, so it was fun to see it all again. They had the grounds looking very nice that day too, because they were getting ready for a wedding. After visiting La Caille, we went back home to take a break and eat dinner before heading off to see the Days of '47 Rodeo at the Maverik Center. It was a lot of fun to be there, and we had excellent seats too! We were able to spend the rest of the weekend just hanging out with Ruth's family. It was a lot of fun to get to know them all a little better. Here are a few pictures from the adventure. Enjoy!